Athlete of the Week December 13th - Cady Cooper

MANATEE COUNTY - Every now and again we step outside the box of conventional sports for our ABC 7 Athlete of the Week. This week roping doggies is the sport, and Cady Cooper of Palmetto High school is the athlete.

Calf roping is definitely not high school basketball, softball or volleyball, but you still have to put the work in to achieve success. “We come out and practice every day. I have my sister out here to motivate me, and all my family does it, so we push each other to do it,” Says Cady.

“She’s just real easy to coach. She wants it every day, you know, come out…practice, practice, practice,” says Wade Cooper, her father and her coach.

Cady won the Breakaway Roping National Championship with her horse Petey. She is the first Floridian to do so in 16 years, which coincides with her age. “It’s challenging, but it’s also rewarding at the same time. It’s not something that everyone can do, and it just makes you feel different from everybody else,” says Cady.

Her dad Wade and her grandfather were steer wrestlers, so you could say she was born to rodeo. “When you're around rodeo, it's kind of hard to explain to other people. It kind of gets in your blood…it's just a real special sport. And it’s something real unique to go out there and go on the national level and see your kid win. There's nothing like it.”

She still has time before college, but she isn't planning on giving this up once she gets there, or maybe ever. “I hope I can go to nationals for the next two years, and keep competing there and do good there, and then go to college and compete in college rodeos. And then wherever that takes me from there, we’ll see.”

Congratulations to Cady Cooper, the National Breakaway roper from Palmetto High School, she is our ABC 7 Athlete of the Week.